dance of the seven veils
Salome's infamous veil dance on a silver plate
At the cost of John the Baptist’s head, Salomé’s dance set centuries of imagination spinning. Wilde turned her into a lethal icon. Strauss made her sing. The myth kept mutating. In Dance of the Seven Veils, Salomé slips from symbol to presence. Desire moves, hesitates, turns in on itself.
Director Aïda Gabriëls brings together Colin H. Van Eeckhout (CHVE, Amenra), Pieter-Jan Van Assche (Innerwoud) and soprano Astrid Stockman in a charged constellation around dancer Germán Jauregui. Bodies, sound and matter circulate through the space, while sculptor Rui Barros reshapes the figures of femininity that haunt the scene.
concept + direction — Aïda Gabriëls
live music — Colin H. Van Eeckhout, Pieter-Jan Van Assche (Innerwoud) and Astrid Stockman
dance — German Jauregui
live scenography — Rui Barros
libretto — Ylona Supèr
dramaturgy — Ylona Supèr and Tessa Vannieuwenhuyze
costumes — Kjell de Meersman and Noa Kapchitz
light design — Davy Deschepper
sound — Korneel Moreaux
production manager — Sebastiaan Peeters
produced by oester
co-produced by Muziektheater Transparant, LOD Muziektheater, Ancienne Belgique and Perpodium
with the support of Kunstencentrum Vooruit, Axel Vervoordt/Inspiratum, O. Festival for Opera. Music. Theatre., NOF Fribourg and the Flemish Government
23 - 24 April 2021 — Motel Mozaïque festival, Rotterdam (NL) — create & perform
29 April 2021 — deSingel, Antwerp (BE) — PREMIERE — postponed
06 - 07 May 2021 — Vooruit, Ghent (BE) — postponed
14 - 15 May 2021 — O Festival, Rotterdam, (NL) — postponed
22 May 2021 — Ancienne Belgique, Brussels (BE) — postponed
29 - 30 May 2021 — NOF, Fribourg (CH)
08 June 2021 — Inspiratum / Axel Vervoordt, Antwerp (BE) — postponed
25 August 2021 — O. Festival, Rotterdam (NL) — avant-premiere
12 November 2021 — Toneelhuis, Antwerp (BE) — PREMIERE
13 December 2021 — Ancienne Belgique, Brussels (BE)
16 February 2022 — CC Brugge, Bruges (BE)
18 February 2022 — STUK ism. 30CC, Leuven (BE)
23 February 2022 — Inspiratum / Axel Vervoordt, Antwerp (BE)
24 February 2022 — CC Ter Dilft, Bornem (BE)
26 February 2022 — De Brakke Grond, Amsterdam (NL)
03 March 2022 — CC Strombeek, Strombeek-Bever (BE)
02 October 2022 — CC De Werft, Geel (BE)
30 November 2022 — C-Mine, Genk (BE)
18 February 2023 — CC Sint-Niklaas (BE)
22 April 2023 — Roadburn Festival / Schouwburg, Tilburg (NL)
“You leave Dance of the Seven Veils with a soul reverberating with emotions and ears glowing with sublime vocals and melody lines.”
“A spectacular show with an exciting and evocative soundscape”
“Gabriëls does not want to tell us the story so much as make us feel it. The virtuoso music, with heavenly voices, a penetrating double bass and the sound of metal chains, achieve this in the most ingenious way. The vocals are ear-catching, the melodies intoxicatingly beautiful. You actually feel this universe and hear deep mourning, lasciviousness, silent sadness, ferocity.”
